What day is it?

I just noticed something...I think it's a little funny that my last post says it was on Monday, January 25 when I actually posted it (as well as this one) on Tuesday, January 26 here in Japan. Just a random thought.

Field Trip Thursday

My friend Amanda & I have started a new tradition that we like to call "Field Trip Thursday". We load up and venture out of the gates. We are trying to go somewhere new each week. Our first trip landed us at Costco. A little slice of America for us here in Japan! We laughed a lot!! First things first, we had to get a membership. It was 4200 yen for a year (about $45 USD). As we were trying to overcome the language barrier to fill out the membership form, somehow they came to the conclusion that we only needed 1 membership. I tried to get my own form, but they weren't having it. So we turn in our form, take our pictures and I now have a "Costco Wife"! Haha! Once we were members, we were ready to go shop. As we were roaming the aisles we came across a scale that quickly reminded us we were in Japan. It was the smallest human scale I have ever seen! It wasn't even big enough for my whole foot to fit on it!

This picture doesn't quite capture all of it....my foot was hanging off the back as well as the top of the scale. After this we continued shopping. We made a great discovery...the Japanese know how to grow some strawberries!!! They may be the best strawberries I've ever had. We've even made a return trip to buy more already.

Our first trip was definitely a success! We left base, found our destination & returned all without getting lost! I'm sure there will be many more funny stories to come of our field trips! Sayonara!

Everyday life

Nothing much new to report here in Japan....I feel like we are really starting to settle in here. Kenny is busy & in more than full swing with work. He just started a new job that will be a lot of hard work, but ultimately should be very rewarding for him. He has also just started 2 of his last 3 masters classes. He's hoping to be finished by May! I'm so proud of him!
I am in the process of applying to be a substitute teacher at the DOD schools here on base. It will be a good way for me to work some, but still have the flexibility to enjoy Japan life. I have been able to get involved with the women's ministry at the base chapel. The new Bible studies just kicked off last week. I am getting to do Beth Moore's Esther study. Super excited about that!
I can't say enough how much God has blessed us with some good friends since we've been here. I don't think I would be making it if it weren't for a few of the girls here.
Oh, and get ready Arkansas....I'll be there most of March!

Ringing in the New Year!

Wow, I can't believe it's 2010! Where does the time go? We had a blast ringing in the new year with some of our new friends! We are so thankful for them. It was Kenny & I along with 3 other families. There was tons of junk food, games, music & more junk food!

We've been trying to get out & experience Japan more. This weekend our friends the Miners took us to Showa park. It is a huge park with tons of Japanese gardens, playgrounds & all sorts of other things to do. It used to be a military base, if that helps you understand how big this place is. Since it is so big, we rented bikes to ride around the park. Well, the Japanese people did not design their bicycles for my 6'2" husband...It was hilarious to see him on that thing!!! He was either hitting his knees on the handlebars, the bell or trying to peddle with his knees outside of the handlebars. At one point, we had stopped to the the Miners' girl (and us) play at one of the playgrounds. We were getting back on our bikes & there was a Japanese family pointing & laughing at Kenny trying to ride his bike. Unfortunately, I was too busy laughing & trying not to fall off of my own bike to capture this on camera. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for this!

Here is my 1st attempt at adding pictures to a post....let's see if this works

Lora, Amanda, Me & Hillary

Kenny & I with the Japanese drummers

Me, Amanda & her girls on the "rolly slide"

Kenny & I at Showa Park

Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas night is winding down here in Japan & just getting ready to start in the states. Other then being a little homesick a few times, we've had a great Christmas! On Christmas Eve I cooked a traditional Christmas meal. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans, green peas & 2 pies! I was exhausted!!! This was my 1st time to do all of the cooking...luckily, I've had one of the best cooks out there to teach me. Thanks Mom!!! Overall I think I did pretty good. I was a little concerned we'd have a Griswald moment & the turkey would go kaput, but it didn't it was great! We had Kenny's friend Do & his family over for dinner. It was so fun to have other people around.
After they left we cleaned the kitchen & I got started on the traditional Greene family Christmas breakfast....scaled back slightly for just the 2 of us. It included homemade cinnamon rolls, egg casserole & baked fruit. YUM!!!! This morning when we were eating breakfast I realized the good thing about being in Japan...I no longer have to fight my Dad & Rebekah for the gooey cinnamon rolls in the middle of the pan! =)
Since we went to Hawaii on our way here, we didn't do big Christmas presents with each other this year. But Santa did bring me the complete series of Gilmore Girls on DVD & a Netflix subscription...both of which will be great when Kenny has to go out of town.
Tonight we went to have a Christmas dinner with some of the singles in Kenny's squadron. It was nice to hang out with some of our new "Air Force Family". I am so thankful that we got to celebrate the holidays with our real families before we left Little Rock though.
I guess that is it for now....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Can't sleep...

So it's 12:30 am here in Japan...after laying in bed for almost 2 hours trying to go to sleep I figured it was time to get up for a while. It's incredibly frustrating to be so tired, but can't get to sleep. Unfortunately, this has happened the past few nights.
Things are still going well here, although this week has been a little tough for me just thinking about Christmas coming up. I absolutely love the holidays! Spending time with family, cooking, buying gifts for people, Christmas music, the lights, the smells and most importantly the ultimate reason why we celebrate the birth of our Lord & Savior! It just doesn't feel quite like Christmas yet to me. Yes, we got to celebrate the holidays with our families before we left Arkansas, but I've still been pretty sad thinking about not being with them next week. I know Kenny & I will have fun. It's just a little tough that this is my 1st Christmas in all my 29 years to not be in Little Rock, Arkansas with my family. Please pray that this time will be a smooth transition for me & that I will be able to enjoy the holidays.
Other than being a little homesick at the moment, everything is great. Kenny is slowly starting to get into the swing of things at work. He won't really start getting busy & flying much until January. So it's kinda nice to have him easing into it, that means he's home a little more right now. =)
Well, I guess that's all for now...

Japan - Week 1 =)

What a week! So much has gone on this past week, I don't even know where to start. On Thursday, we had our first experience eating off base....we went to Joyful Honda (and no, it's not a car dealership) with a group from base. It is a huge Home Depot-ish, pet store, Wal-mart etc type place. They also have a grocery store & food court. We only had time for the food court on Thursday, but that was plenty interesting! Kenny & I were walking around looking at pictures on menus, & I found something that looked like postickers (which I love) so I decided that's what I wanted. We went to the counter, pointed at the pictures of what we wanted & paid with our Yen. It was fun!
After Joyful Honda, we went to the car dealership to officially purchase our car. We got to pick it up on Monday!!!! It is so nice to have a car now. I tend to have minor issues with the blinker....it's on the right side of the steering wheel, instead of the left side. So needless to say I turn on the windshield wipers quite often. =) But at least I haven't pulled a Kenny yet, he was loading the car at the BX while I was walking to the post office. He was going to pick me up there. He got there & told me that I had missed a "Silly Situation" as Will would call it. He got in the car, only to realize that he had gotten in on the wrong side of the car. Instead of getting our & walking around the car, my 6'2" husband crawled through the inside of our compact rental car to the other side. I was crying I was laughing so hard by the time he finished telling me about it. =)
Friday was a huge day....we got our house!!!!! We also got our household goods. Such a blessing. They moved all of our stuff in & we were 90% unpacked in a total of 2 hours. It is so nice to have our furniture and all again.
Saturday & Sunday were not so fun for me....Kenny & I had both been fighting a bug of some sort, and it got the best of me on Saturday. I spent most of the weekend in the bed with fever, chills & aches. No fun. But I have the best husband ever! He took such good care of me while doing his best to organize the house at the same time.
Fortunately I am feeling better now, not 100% yet, but better. Monday we got our new tv, tv stand & car. We are starting to feel normal again. Ben's Uncle Mark took us back to Joyful Honda to look around more & to another mall called Mori-town. They had a really cool grocery store. We bought some food to experiment with for dinner tonight.....
Overall things are going well for us in Japan so far. They are having an inspection on base this week, so there isn't much going on by way of social activities. I still haven't really met any friends our age yet. Please pray that we will meet some new friends soon.
That's all for now...I'm sure there will be more to come soon!